Not Just a Gust
by Doctor Whoey
Summary: The Doctor and OC Rachel are off exploring. But when Rachel starts seeing someone from her past, the horrible truth she has been trying to hide is revealed to the Doctor. Rated T for VERY mild swearing
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! I'm new here and have spent quite a few months reading all your brilliant stories. This is the first Doctor Who fan-fic I ever wrote (and I haven't written many). I've been hesitant in posting it because it's quite close to my heart and I'm worried people won't like it. I hope if you do you will very kindly review and let me know!**

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><p>The TARDIS landed... albeit roughly. But that was nothing unusual, Rachel was used to being thrown around when landing the TARDIS; it was all part of the fun! She watched the Doctor examine the monitor, but he didn't seem overly impressed by what he saw. He dashed to the doors and put a single hand on the handle, but not opening it.<p>

"If we've landed where I think we have, we're not staying", he said simply. "Pretty sure I've been here before and trust me, the occupants of this planet are not worth meeting. I'll take you somewhere nicer... somewhere sunny!"

He opened the TARDIS doors, poking his head out while being careful to stay inside the doors.

"Yep, just as I thought. Best not venture out" he exclaimed, pulling his head back in and shutting the door.

Just as he did a subtle gust of wind blew through, up the ramp and towards Rachel who happened to be standing in just the wrong spot. Her hair waved as she staggered slightly, taken aback by the weight of the gust. The Doctor obliviously jumped up the ramp, using the rails to glide him along, and headed for the console. Rachel appeared to be fixed to the same spot, though the Doctor didn't notice at first... much too busy settling the controls for their next destination. It was only when he heard Rachel's breathing become heavier that he looked up, to see her face had turned white as an Adipose.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" he asked, voice heavy with concern.

"I'm fine", she replied. "Just feeling a little..."

She brought her hand to her forehead, and the Doctor reached her just in time to catch her as she started to slide to the ground.

"'Fine' my ass", he quipped.

She hadn't fallen unconscious, he noted. As it happened, once she'd hit the floor she became somewhat alert again, though she looked tremendously tired.

"Wow, sorry, don't know what happened there", she remarked with a wavering smile, starting to stand. The Doctor stood back a little and allowed her to do so, still keeping his arms outstretched in case she had another (for lack of a better word) episode.

"Pretty sure you fainted. Are you ok?" he asked.

"Fine, really I'm fine. I might go lie down though, feeling a little sick."

"Maybe I should take you to the medical bay, scan you over. Make sure you're not..."

"What? Deathly ill? I'm totally ok Doctor, just need some sleep; probably lunch or something."

In the back of her mind she couldn't ignore the gust of wind (that felt like so much more than a gust of wind); she knew it had brought on the nausea. But, the Doctor had a way of over-dramatising everything, and the last thing she wanted was to be fussed over.

The Doctor reluctantly watched her walk away from him, towards the hall and her bedroom. She had a way of under-dramatising everything so try as he might he couldn't NOT worry. He hadn't seen her show any sort of illness or weakness before; from the day she joined the TARDIS she'd appeared healthy as a horse.

'Might just change course', he thought. 'Maybe she's missing home?'

Rachel walked through and closed her bedroom door behind her, head feeling heavy as lead. She started to undress when she thought she heard something... skittering. Darting around on the spot, she couldn't see anything. In fact this sudden act of movement only made her feel 5 times worse than she already did. Choosing to ignore her newly-found insanity, she slipped off her jumper and proceeded to remove her shoes when her hand slipped and her favourite red Converse rolled under the bed.

"Bloody hell" she murmured, carefully sliding to the ground to retrieve it. And there she was, head under the bed and butt sticking out from under it, when she heard it again. She was startled and raised her head too fast, hitting it on the beam under the bed.

"GAH" she yelled, "RUDE!" But she didn't have a chance to back out from under the bed before noticing the feet standing on the other side. She gulped, and carefully slid back. She was ready to face whatever it was that was there; she's faced many gruesome aliens in the short time she'd been with the Doctor. She imagined tentacles coming from its face, or 5 legs... or a green skinned alien with a purple afro.

'Best to just jump up and get it over with', she thought. 'Like bungee jumping'. Once she was sure her head was clear of the bed she jumped up, fear giving her the adrenaline she so desperately wanted right now. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw, and she backed up as far as the room would allow her.

"M-m-michael?", she stammered, her voice quivering with emotion and terror.

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><p><strong>The chapters are short, and there's about 4 in total. I'm not the sort of writer to hold my chapters hostage until I get a gajillion reviews, BUT obviously if no-one reviews then it's safe for me to assume no-one is interested and I won't keep posting the chapters. I hope someone out there likes it! I'm on the fence about it personally, lol<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to Alikai, kie1993, OshieGringlebosh and Invisibleblade for their reviews! Alikai, I agree with your whole-heartedly. The Doctor _is_ OOC. As this was my first attempt at writing fiction I feel it's taken me a few chapters to start to get into the groove of writing him in character. I probably have his mannerisms more accurate than the actual dialogue, but that's something I'm working on.**

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><p>Upon hearing her bloody-curling scream, it only took a split second of reaction time for the Doctor to shout her name and race towards her bedroom door.<p>

"Rachel!" he shouted, turning the handle and pushing his entire weight against the door. He was expecting it to be locked, and was surprised when he fell through and face-planted on the carpet. He looked up and saw Rachel cowering in the corner of the room, knees up to her head and rocking back and forth.

This can't be good, he thought. "Rachel?" he asked, softly this time, and slowly moved towards her. "Rachel? Rach, what's wrong? Hey, look at me, what's happened?"

He carefully lifted her chin up, and was astonished to see her face filled with more terror than he'd ever seen.

"My God, Rach, what happened to you?"

"Noth-"

"And don't you dare give me 'nothing'. Something clearly happened here! Why did you scream? Is there something here?" His eyes darted around the room, unconsciously taking a protective stance in front of her.

"No! I mean, I'm not really sure. I think there was something here but... Oh god I dunno", she groaned, drawing her hands up to her head and running them through her hair. Tears were starting to fall and she was looking more and more distressed as the seconds went on.

"Right"

The Doctor had decided enough was enough, and without asking permission he lifted her to his chest and carried her out of the room. He was surprised all he heard from her was a small groan of protest, and not a full-blown verbal attack (or even physical; she was a fan of hitting when she was mad. Or happy... Maybe it was just hitting in general)

"OK, so the mere fact you've let me bring you to the med bay is enough reason for me to be entirely concerned now" he told her, laying her on the metal table which he had put blankets on only 5 minutes earlier... just in case.

"No, please, let me sit. I don't want to lie down" she protested.

The Doctor relented, letting her sit up while he grabbed his sonic screwdriver and an icepack for her wrist, which appeared to have been hurt when she fell to the ground. He handed her the pack and stood back to get a proper look. She didn't look like she had been beaten or hurt, not physically anyway. Besides the wrist and the red eyes from the tears, she even looked better than when she fainted earlier.

"Feeling sick anymore?"

"No, better actually. And you know, the wrist's not too bad either, you really don't have to-"

She started to get down of the table, but the Doctor firmly pushed her back onto it.

"Tell me what happened" he ordered, bringing his face only inches from her own, staring into her eyes.

"I can't," her voice trembled.

"Why not?" asked the Doctor, his eyes darting from left to right as he examined hers, desperately looking for any trace of what was bothering her.

"Because... god, please don't" she replied sadly, looking away as the tears started to fall again.

It wasn't just sadness; it was apparent to the Doctor that she was ashamed, or even guilty. He shook his head and leaned against the counter behind him, crossed his arms across his chest and faced her.

"You never tell me anything. We've been travelling together for so long now and you always seem so reserved. I don't feel like I know you at all".

She seemed to get a little miffed at this point, which the Doctor was pleased with. Perhaps that would be the key to making her open up.

"*I* don't tell *you* anything? How about *you*? How did you become the last of your kind? Were you married? Did you have kids? What did Gallifray look like? How did it fall? WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" she yelled on the final question.

The Doctor was taken aback and shuffled his feet uncomfortably, not answering her.

"Tell you what. When you start opening up to me, maybe I'll do the same. In the meantime, all I want to do is get some sleep".

She jumped off the table, and the Doctor let her. She started towards the exit but stopped suddenly, looking towards the door. She could see him, standing there watching her. The Doctor noticed her staring and looked as well, but couldn't see anything.

"Rachel," he ventured.

"OK, ignore the little outburst I just had and please tell me you can see someone standing at the door?" she begged, voice shaking. "Someone, something... anything. It can be a cobweb for all I care but PLEASE tell me you see something by that door".

The Doctor stared and looked for someone, something... anything.

"Rach, there's nothing there" he answered, walking towards the door.

Her face fell even further (if that were even possible at this point) as the Doctor walked right through the image that was Michael without any apparent acknowledgement of his existence... such as it was.

Right, she thought, defeated. Crazy.

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><p><strong>The chapters are super short, I know I know I'm sorry. But Word makes it look seriously long and when I post it here it's so tiny! I will update sooner as a result of this :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok so since someone pointed out that "ass" in chapter one could be considered a swear, I must point out that Rachel swears a TINY bit in this. Like, one word that I personally don't consider a swear but others might. So please be mindful of this when reading. I have changed the rating to T just in case ;)**

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><p>Rachel was sitting on the table in the med bay while the Doctor flashed his sonic screwdriver at her head. It was so close to her ear all she could hear was "BUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZ," and it was starting to irk her.<p>

"Who are you seeing?" asked the Doctor. She felt he was being surprisingly kind to her, even after her not-so-little outburst.

"Michael."

"Uuuhh-huh," replied the Doctor, drawing out his response. He waited for a few seconds but when she offered no further information he dared to dive a little deeper.

"And Michael is...?"

Rachel visibly squirmed in her seat, and the Doctor could see she was uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

"He's my husband."

The Doctor stopped the buzzing and dropped his hand to his side, resting the screwdriver in his pocket. He took a seat next to her on the table, clasped his hands in his lap and turned his head to her, patiently waiting for her to continue. She looked at him and sighed in defeat.

"The day you met me at the hospital. I mean, you asked me why I was there and I gave you such a blatant lie I can't believe you let me get away with it. Then the aliens came and we were running around like mad trying to save everyone. And it was awesome. It was the single worst day of my life and running around with you made me forget about all the horror of the night before. And then you asked me to come with you to see the stars and I couldn't believe my luck! I could run forever, never having to worry about griev-."

Her voice broke on the final word, and the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it in comfort. She took his hand, brought it to her lap and held it there. The Doctor sensed the next part of the story might very well tear her apart and clasped it tightly in assurance.

"There was a guy," she continued. "We worked together for a while but then he became a little... too friendly. I think I'll spare you the details," she shuddered.

"After that I left, moved to another company and started fresh. But then he started turning up outside the building, bringing me flowers and cups of coffee at lunchtime, always with an endless stream of apologies. I'd told him to piss off; it was a blatant violation of the AVO. In the end I moved to another city, found a great little house and set myself up there. And then I met Michael."

She smiled at the mention of his name, her face lighting up in a way the Doctor hadn't seen before.

"It was such a whirlwind romance, but it felt so right. After 3 months we got married and we moved in together. And for 2 or so years we were so happy," she said, smiling at the memories.

"One night we came home after seeing a movie. It's funny how vividly I remember everything. I was laughing at something Michael had said, he pulled me towards him for a kiss as he closed the front door and carried me into the lounge-room over his shoulder, throwing us both down on the couch together laughing. I leaned over Michael to turn on the light and there he was, standing at the other end of the room pointing a gun at us. He started yelling, calling me a whore and telling Michael to leave, to let him have me and no-one would get shot. But Michael wasn't having that and he rushed at him, screaming like an animal."

She couldn't stop now; she was shaking. She had opened up a can of worms and couldn't stop herself. The Doctor looked on, concern written all over his face.

"Do you know how much blood the human body has? Do you know what it looks like when it's all poured out on the floor like that? He shot at Michael, then at me, then himself. I managed to escape with a graze but Michael... He just laid there and didn't move, staring into space. And I tried to wake him, I tried... so hard."

The tears started to fall freely now; she had been holding them back.

"Hey, hey, Rach it's ok, just let it out," assured the Doctor, using his other arm to pull her towards him.

"No, no I can't please don't. If I start I'll never stop," she sobbed, trying to resist.

But it was too late. They sat there for what felt like hours to Rachel, him holding her close and her sobbing until she had nothing left.

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><p><strong>Ahh poor Rachel, I'm so mean to my characters. One more chapter to go! Thank you everyone for your support and words of encouragement! I can't wait to get all these chapters up so I can post my next story, which I'm totally proud of ;) I feel my writing lacks oomf in this chapter but I hope you all still like it and will hang in for the final chapter.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**OMG I'm so excited to be posting the final chapter! I suppose this is as good a time as any to point out to everyone that I don't own Doctor Who. I know I know, you've probably all been reading my story thinking "Oh wow, she hasn't said _anything_ about not owning Doctor Who... I bet you she does. Wow I'm reviewing on the story of the person who owns Doctor Who, this is totally awesome!" Alas, I do not. But thank you for your reviews... even if you DID only do so because you thought I owned it.**

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><p>The Doctor was grateful she'd fallen asleep. She was already exhausted and the emotion of retelling the story looked like it nearly killed her. He sat on a nearby stool, just looking at her and taking it all in. He was so angry; at the man with the gun, at himself for not pushing the story out of her at the start, at the nurses for not telling him the truth when he asked for it when they first met. But more than anything he was angry at her. Not because she had kept it a secret all this time, but because she so clearly blamed herself for Michael's death.<p>

Michael. In the craziness that was the last hour he had nearly forgotten she had been seeing him. Could this be attributed to her grieving mind finally caving in, or something more sinister? Sliding quietly off the stool, he tentatively tiptoed out of the room.

Once he was out of earshot he raced to the console and started looking for any traces of alien technology or disease. Suddenly he stopped; the TARDIS was showing him something on the monitor.

"Aw you beautiful sexy beast you!" he cried.

He noted that the new cameras, which came with his new TARDIS, had turned out to be quite handy as he watched the screen.

"I knew that planet was bad news."

~o~

Rachel jolted awake, startled by the whiteness of the room and the coldness of the table she was on. Apparently blankets will only keep you warm for so long.

"Hey it's ok, you're alright," said the Doctor, taking her hand as she bolted upright and darted her eyes around the room.

"I'm not alright," she spat back.

The Doctor looked on with renewed concern, and on seeing this Rachel decided to calm down and rephrase.

"I mean, I'm ok. I'm not really, but I'm fine. I'm... better than I was," she stumbled, not quite able to express how she was feeling.

The Doctor decided a change of subject might help, and held out his hand to her.

"What's that?" she asked, pulling his hand down slightly to try and examine the tiny specks in his palm.

"Lakerfar spores," he replied, turning to sit beside her. "That planet we landed on, it contains hundreds and hundreds of Lakerfar flowers... kind of like daisies I suppose. The Monarch, ergh, not a nice guy. Last time I was there I managed to save most of his slaves, but was chased out before I could help everyone."

"You? Chased out? I find that hard to believe," scoffed Rachel.

"They had pitchforks," he replied. "And torches. It was all very hot and pointy."

She giggled as the Doctor playfully bumped her shoulder with his, before continuing.

"When I opened the TARDIS door earlier I noticed we'd landed in a field of Lakerfar flowers. Pretty as they may be I didn't think it wise to linger. I didn't know how they worked; I'd only encountered their power once before... I'm sorry I didn't put it all together fast enough."

"What do you mean?"

"The Monarch would use the spores to instil fear in his slaves. From what I could tell he had the flowers ground up and turned into a paste. He would then smear it onto the walls of the cells of his captures and use it as a rather effective and cruel form of torture. They rarely spoke out of turn or disobeyed him after that."

"OK, but I still don't get it."

"Oh right sorry, you were asleep. Your nose probably hurts a little, I'm sorry about that. Had to get the little suckers out of your head somehow."

Rachel looked confused for a second, and then realisation dawned on her face.

"The spores force you to see the thing you're most ashamed of, right in front of you," the Doctor continued, watching Rachel's face as he explained. "For some it could be an image of the child they had aborted, all grown up. Others it could be the person they were cheating on their partners with. In your case, it was Michael."

Rachel didn't know what to say, where to look. She settled for her lap, and stared into it intently.

"I don't blame myself," she said quietly, and not at all convincingly.

The Doctor jumped off the table and knelt in front of her, looking up at her face and brushing a strand of hair away from it.

"I think you do," he replied simply.

Tears began to well in her eyes; she had been trying so hard to hide it from him, to hide everything. How did it all fall apart so severely and so quickly?

"If I hadn't-"

"But you did."

"But if I'd just-"

"But you didn't."

God he was annoying sometimes, she thought to herself.

"You can't blame yourself, what happened happened. You are *not* to blame. You are the victim in all this; you didn't lead him on, you gave him a chance to walk away... you didn't cause him to lose his mind and shoot you both point blank." Rachel twitched at the memory, but let the Doctor continue. "You can't feel guilty for living where Michael died. By living you're honouring his sacrifice for you. He would want you to live, to go on and meet someone new and get married and have a brilliant life."

Rachel sniffed and gave a slight nod, jumped down off the table and knelt in front of the Doctor.

"Well, I don't think he meant me!"

"Oh shut up," said Rachel, playfully hitting him on the arm and hugging him tighter than she had ever hugged him before.

It would take a lot of time to heal from what she's experienced, but she knew right then that just being with the Doctor was healing in itself.

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><p><strong>Ergh, corny final line. Hope it went over smoothly though.<strong>

**Well, that's it. I will post a final chapter to announce the posting of my next story, for all of you who have added this as a story alert. So if you're interested in reading more don't delete that alert! And to the rest of you, thank you for making my first experience here at fanfiction a pleasant one, your reviews were wonderful to read and an incredible confidence boost! The last time I posted this story somewhere I only got 4 reviews so I'm chuffed to have gotten so many this time. Hope to see you again soon :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to everyone who supported me during this story. It's been nearly a year since I posted it. I've had another story sitting around waiting all this time to be posted and finally I have done so! It's a one-shot single chapter story, so please pop over and have a gander.

I do hope people liked this story in the end. I didn't receive any reviews for the last chapter so honestly I have no idea how the whole story was received, but I do hope someone enjoyed it.

Just a heads up, I'm currently working on my first multi-chapter! But I won't post it until I'm done (Since I have a nasty habit of going months at a time without writing anything).


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